Chapter 16: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut

Rose and Dave prowled around Boston doing touristy things. The one advantage of having a motorcycle was that they were much easier to park than a car. Dave went into a garage near Quincy Market and parked in a series of spaces designated just for motorcycles. He was the only other bike that morning.

They roamed around the picturesque waterfront market, went to the Aquarium, walked part of the Freedom Trail, and did some other shopping, having things they bought shipped home to Florida.

In the afternoon, they drove out to the suburbs and checked into the Marriott Burlington. Dave had called Jim Goodman over the weekend to see whether he was still interested in getting together as he’d indicated in Roanoke, when they’d met. In Roanoke, Dave had been with Alice and Penny and Jim had asked one of them to dance. One outcome was they had a sexy three days with Jim being a major part of the MFMF swing and swap that they enjoyed when he wasn’t working.

Jim lived somewhere in Burlington with his long-term steady girl, Blair Morrill, who was an unknown to Dave except that Jim had portrayed her as a libertine. Rose knew little about the situation except what Dave explained to her over a campfire in Maine before they’d met Tim Linnington.

Dave called Jim from the hotel to let him know they were in town and settled. Jim sounded excited and promised to pick them up right at six o’clock at the hotel’s main entrance.

As it turned out, Jim drove an SUV that looked in mint condition. He got out to greet the couple and so did the pretty, short-haired brunette in the car. Rose had kept her summer dress and heels that she’d bought in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, just for something like the evening. She’d found time to iron out the wrinkles from the severe packing required for the motorcycle just before they needed to leave the hotel.

After Dave, Rose, Jim, and Blair had all met, they got into the SUV and Jim drove them to a mall where they went to a restaurant named Legal Seafood. It was a local chain with a superb reputation, and, of course, great seafood.

They all got drinks and split a couple of shrimp cocktails. By then the small talk about Dave’s trip, the weather, the motorcycle, and their day in Boston, ran thin.

Dave chuckled, “There’s no need to be embarrassed about anything. We’re very open about what happened in Roanoke and about Rose and me. Your comments or questions are more than welcome.”

Blair said bluntly, “Jim told me about meeting you and Alice in Virginia.”

Rose quickly added from her meager knowledge and desire to participate in the conversation, “ ... and Penny.”

Dave nodded, “We had a lot of fun, and I think built a nice relationship with each other. I hope that came across in what he told you. Both Alice and Penny send their regards. They both wish they could have joined us to see you again.”

Blair smirked, “He told me that Alice fucked the stuffing out of him ... but who’s Penny?”

Dave ate a shrimp stalling for time. Jim looked panicked about what would be said next. Dave, Rose, and Blair all looked at him.

Jim finally explained, “Errr, Penny was the other woman that was there. Even though Alice is Dave’s wife, Penny was more with him.” He gestured at Dave.

Blair said calmly but with a bite to her voice, “But she spent some time with you. You fucked her?”

Jim reluctantly said, “Well, yes. I told you that we swapped back and forth.” He tried to remember exactly what he’d confessed after returning from his trip to Virginia.

Blair turned her whole body to Jim, “Oh, am I not remembering that part of our conversation when you told me about meeting ‘Alice and Dave’?” She made large air quotes around the two names as she ticked them off on two of her fingers.

Jim said defensively, “I didn’t want to disrespect Alice, Penny, or you, so I didn’t mention her. I was afraid of what your opinion of them and me might be if you knew that, and I also didn’t want to make you feel that you had to compete. You don’t.”

Blair said now with anger in her tone, “I think we need to have another discussion about what ‘Tell me ALL the details’ means. I promised to do that with you, although I haven’t had an opportunity drop into my lap the way you did with Alice AND Penny, apparently.” There was no doubt she was pissed about being short-changed some information about her boyfriend’s romp with another woman – other women. They had an agreement that he’d short-changed by the sin of omission.

Dave said, “I would think it would be easier for a woman to create opportunities to connect?” He was trying to help Jim by diverting the conversation slightly.

Blair shook her head, and spoke in a more relaxed manner to Dave, “Harder? Yes, I could get picked up in a hotel bar, but I stay in hotels near my consulting clients. The restaurants and bars in those places are also usually watering holes for various execs and visitors to my clients. If I’m on the prowl, I’d get seen. I need a pure, professional relationship with them to succeed in my consulting work, not tainted by someone thinking I’m a tart or an easy lay on the prowl for a one-night stand. Overall, I’d say it’s harder.”

Dave nodded, “I take back what I said. A guy can get away with it, but not a woman.

The double standard.”

“Precisely. Jim did say that where you live you went out of your way to practice a more equitable balance between men and woman and the related value sets. He learned a lot about your Circle from you. I think it’s helped him think more about the various things men do to put women down... like NOT telling them everything about an evening with another woman when he’d pledged to do that.“ She shot daggers at her boyfriend.

Dave said, “The Circle has acted more egalitarian than the world outside our gates. For instance, we have a female chef, and a female concierge and handy woman to help in the Circle. Role reversals in both cases. I gladly turned my multi-billion-dollar business over to a woman as CEO, and one of my other wives is the CFO there. Moreover, there are many more women than men in the Circle, and that’s by their own choice.”

Rose contributed, “Many of the women in the Circle have traditionally male jobs outside the Circle, many in computer science-related jobs, including in the robotics area. I’m studying oceanography, a somewhat male bastion of talent.”

Jim asked about Dave and Rose’s backgrounds and how they met. He knew about Dave and Alice and Penny, but not anything about Rose. He certainly knew he wanted a piece of her later, provided he could get Blair to cooperate and forgive him fast enough. From what he could guess, Rose hadn’t worn a bra and she was mildly excited. She’d also been making eyes at him since they met.

Rose laughed and Dave gestured for her to tell the story. “Dave is my daddy, but now he’s also my lover and maybe someday will be the father of a child with me. But I’m not even one of his wives.”

Blair looked shocked. She said, “Daddy?”

Dave laughed, “Allow me to fill in some details. Rose is the daughter of one of my ten wives and another man long gone from the picture before I met her. Rose was about six when we first met, and I adopted her a couple of years later for a number of reasons relating to estate planning and equitable treatment of each of my wives and our children. After she became an adult, we redefined our relationship to be hotter and even more loving. Usually, Rose hangs out and lives with my other step-child Matt, who’s the son of one of my other wives also by a previous relationship. They’re not related except for being ‘steps’.”

Blair relaxed slightly. “Please tell us about your wives. Jim said you have ten, but he didn’t know many details. He has read Cricket’s book, but it’s still in my ‘to read’ pile. We haven’t talked much about it.”

Dave started, “In approximate order; Alice is my legal wife and the CFO in the tech company I ran that is listed on NASDAQ. We had a very successful and profitable IPO about three years ago, which is partly why I’m able to take off and tour the country. Pam and I met in connection with consulting work she was doing to the public utility where I was working fifteen years ago. She still consults all over. Alice and Pam are both pilots as I am; we have a small plane to two to fly around the country in.

“Heather and her son Matt – now my stepson and Rose’s usual boyfriend – came into my life over an unusual week where she lived with me with another girl; they became my temporary wives in an exercise a group of us were doing to loosen up our thinking about life, love, and relationships. She a computer geek.

“Julie came along – she’s Alice’s younger sister and became an executive at the Bennett Foundation; she’s also married to Owen Bennett – the billionaire, and my wife. Alice also married him. We have a number of co-spouses in the Circle.

Cricket met me at a graduation party for some of the graduates in our midst about ten years ago. She was just eighteen and finished college four years before her contemporaries. She wrote Road Trip and Crystal Clear, and seems to push out a best seller once a year.

“Scarlett met me at a couple of parties we threw to impress some of the people we worked with. She knew Owen, and we became enthralled with each other when we had the opportunity to talk. She came back more and more, and we really connected. Nikky was also a very young college graduate. She worked at the same utility I did and we met and she later became my AA. When I jumped ship to take over the tech company, so did she. She’s still there and she works with JR. She really runs the place.

“JR came to work at the tech company just as we were starting up. She was put there by one of big investors – Mark Worthington. She’s a real whiz at all things business. We also connected. Tatiana, I met at a trade show and we fell in love; she was showing off some of her robots. She’s brilliant. And last, and most recent is Bridget, except she’s really my niece; she lived with us while she went to college and we fell in love. She’s another computer science jock.

“These are not what you might call ‘V’ relationships, where I love each wife, but they don’t interact. They all love each other, refer to themselves as sister wives, and are all physical and romantic with each other. We have a very loving household with remarkably little drama.” He glanced at Rose, “She even grew up in that environment and lives in it now.”

You didn’t say what Scarlett did? Did I miss something?”

Dave smiled and gestured to Rose, “Tell Blair and Jim what your mom does?”

Rose smiled, “She’s Scarlett Johansson, the movie star. She starred in the movies based on Cricket’s books Road Trip and Crystal Clear.“

You could have cut the silence with a knife. Blair’s mouth dropped open.

Their main course meals arrived.

Blair asked increasingly detailed questions about Scarlett, the Circle, and the lifestyle, including ‘just how sexual’ the place actually was. Dave tried to help Jim redeem himself by having him fill in some of the details from what he’d learned from them in Virginia as well as his reading of Cricket’s book.

Jim explained, “The people in the Circle, well most of them, are hypersexual. They think about sex all the time. Many people do. What makes them special is that they’ve created a microcosm of society in which that interest is socially acceptable and they can do something about it. ‘Consenting adults can do whatever they want about sex’ is one of their mantras. Consensual nonmonogamy is one of their tenets.

“The common element in their interactions with each other is the love and affection they share for each other and for the Circle as a whole. The Circle being their miniature society, and the whole now being about two-hundred members. They also have what they call pledges. Those are people thinking about joining, meeting everybody and getting known, and usually living in the Circle society in some way to be sure it’s what they want in terms of a lifestyle.”

Blair asked, “So, do you consider yourself swingers?”

Jim struggled with the answer. Dave stepped in, “Yes and no. I’ll give my own answer, but others in our group might give a more definitive answer on either side of the coin. I think of swingers as engaging in sex for its own sake. One author years ago called it a zipless fuck; hike you skirt up, let’s fuck, goodbye. I like to think that I’m either in or about to be in a longer-lasting relationship.

“From the outside looking in, the results may look the same. Two people meet, chat briefly, and then make love. From the inside, I think they’re starting a relationship that could go on for a lifetime or they’re helping an existing relationship blossom further. It’s that first spark of love and attraction between two people when they meet. It gets fanned into a small blaze in their first coupling, but they both know there’s so much more than can happen ... that will happen, not all of it sexual.”

Blair said, “So, none of your hook-ups are just based on lust?”

Dave nodded at Rose. She said, “Those are all right. Heck, just about everybody does those once in a while. What I’ve found is that even when I start that way, they turn into something more meaningful. Realistically, yes, we have hook-ups based on just lust. Our mindset is to see whether we can’t turn them into something deeper. I’m sure that was what was going on when Jim and Alice met, and then with Penny.”

Blair asked the hot looking pint-sized blonde, “You alluded to you being bisexual; did I hear that right?”

Rose giggled, “It doubles my chance for a date on a Friday night.” She grinned.

Blair laughed, “YOU have NO trouble getting a date at any time. I’m curious about what worries you about your lifestyle.”

Rose said, “Some background. I am studying environmental sciences. My summer job was at Mote Marine Laboratories, an oceanic research institution and aquarium near home. At both the university, back when I was in high school, and now at work, people knew about the lifestyle I lived in. Fortunately, very few know who my mom is. EVERYONE just thought or thinks I’d hop in bed with them at the drop of a penny because I live in the Circle and there’s sex there. If I wasn’t in sight, they were sure I was fucking somebody just around the corner. I had and still have a reputation as a slut in the outside world. I don’t mind, but someday it’s going to affect my ability to get ahead in my field unless I can figure out how to neutralize those opinions in some way. I suspect that’ll drive me into some kind of a unique job or career.”